Newly released video footage from a Florida convenience store shows the suspects in the brutal “massacre” of three friends on a fishing trip as they followed one of the victims 10 minutes before the horrific incident.
The footage shows brothers Tony “TJ” Wiggins and William “Robert” Wiggins and Mary Whittemore, walking inside a Dollar General store in Frostproof, Fla. The raw footage also shows Robert Wiggins standing at the counter behind Damien Tillman. And later shows Robert Wiggins walking out of the store about 20 seconds after Tillman leaves.
Tillman was on his way to meet friends Brandon Rollins, 27, and Keven Springfield, 30, for nighttime catfishing.
When the Wiggins brothers and Whittemore left, TJ Wiggins allegedly told his brother to turn onto a particular road, instead of going home.
“Two trucks, occupied by the three victims, passed Robert on that road, at which time TJ told Robert to make a U-turn and follow the trucks,” the police said.
Robert Wiggins followed the trucks to Lake Streety Road in Frostproof. The younger Wiggings brother and Whittemore stayed in the truck, while TJ Wiggins allegedly jumped out and confronted Springfield, accusing him of stealing his truck. Then he started to punch Springfield.
Springfield’s friends Rollins and Tillman got out of their truck to help their friend and that’s when TJ Wiggins really started to raise havoc.
Robert Wiggins told authorities he watched his older brother shoot Tillman, Rollins and Springfield. TJ Wiggins then asked Robert Wiggins to help put Tillman into the back of one of the trucks.
Following the grisly killings, the Wiggins brothers and Whittemore drove to McDonald’s, where they ordered 10 double cheeseburgers and two McChicken sandwiches, authorities said.
The next morning, police said, Robert Wiggins drove his truck to a Lake Wales car wash to clean off the clay stuck to it from the scene of the killings.
When police finally tracked down the trio at a local trailer park they were “living off the grid,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “No running water, no electricity, just some generators.”
The circumstances surrounding the incident have rocked the tiny town.
Tony Wiggins, for example, has 230 felony criminal charges against him in his arrest history.
Judd called the elder Wiggins “pure evil in the flesh” and said his criminal history dates back to when he was 12 years old.
“He’s a thug, he’s a criminal,” Judd said, adding Wiggins has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
His brother has been charged with tampering with evidence and accessory. Whittemore has been charged with accessory after the fact of capital felony.
Judd later told 360aproko News’ Trace Gallagher he had no explanation for why Wiggins had been out on the streets with so many criminal charges against him.
“He has — you look at Florida statute… he’s done it all,” Judd said. “He recently broke someone’s arm.”
